On Sun, 08 Sep 2013 13:47:58 -0400, Ed Huntress
wrote:

snip
The correlation and the role of income inequality as a leading
indicator of trouble is the central point.
snip

BINGO!!!!!

As an analogy consider an individual with a high fever.

While a fever is indeed a symptom, it must be controlled to
avoid permanent brain damage or even death. However after
the fever is controlled, the cause(s) must be determined and
treated. The treatment to reduce the fever should not
introduce other complications. Blood letting was a popular
medical practice in the past because it does in fact reduce
a fever, but it frequently killed the patient because it
weakened their resistance and did nothing to treat the
underlying problem(s).

In many ways confiscatory taxation including capital levies
on total wealth, including that held off-shore or in trust
accounts, on the top 1 to 10% would be like blood letting,
in that it would indeed reduce the GINI, but it would
introduce other serious conditions, while doing nothing to
treat the underlying causes. It is also an easy and obvious
solution.

Before any action, an in-depth critical study/analysis
should be made and data driven policies established rather
than relying on what "everybody knows" and "they say."

While possibly falling into a post hoc ergo propter hoc
fallacy, it would appear that a prime suspect is
"globalization" which has resulted in de-industrialization,
the rise of the supranational corporations with their genius
for tax/regulation avoidance if not evasion, and a far too
large financial services sector, compounded with an
increasingly opaque, arcane and convoluted tax code.

What seems clear is that over the last 30 years of
implementation of globalization, "the Washington Consensus,"
and the "Brave New World Order" 99% of Americans have taken
it in the shorts, while the 1% never had it so good.